Belt



June 1934- R. MULLER 1,963,309 y} BELT Filed Nov. 24, 1935.

- 1P0 ert Mu 2'62" A tags.

Patented June 19, 1934 UNITED STATES BELT Robert Muller, RockvilleCenter, N. Y., assignor to Schaffer Belts, Inc., New York, N. Y., acorporation Application November 24, 1933, Serial No. 699,50'7' 6Claims.

This invention pertains to wearing apparel and relates more particularlyto an improved belt and to a method of making the same.

While belts are often made of a single piece of leather or the likewithout attempt at providing a finely finished inner surface,-beltsdesigned particularly for womens wear are commonly lined. Such linedbelts comprise a front or exposed ply of a suitable material, forexample, thin and pliable leather,-colored, embossed, or otherwisefinished or ornamented to provide a pleasing appearance or to match orproperly contrast with the material of the garment with which it may beassociated,and a lining or facing member properly secured to the frontor outer ply, said lining being designed to conceal and finish the innersurface of this front ply as well as to impart added strength. Thislining may consist of material similar to that of the outer or front plyor some other suitable material, for example, textile fabric such assilk or satin, and is commonly secured to the outer ply by sewed seams.

In accordance with one usual procedure, the lining is attached to theouter or front ply by means of seams comprising stitches which passthrough both the front ply and the lining, and the rows of stitches arethus visible at the exposed surface of the belt. When finely finishedand delicately textured or tinted materials are employed for the frontply, these exposed rows of stitches mar the general uniformity of thesurface and thus detract from the desired artistic effect. For thisreason it has heretofore been proposed to sew the lining and the frontply together wrong side out and then to turn the belt so as to exposethe finished surfaces of the front ply and lining and at the same timeto conceal the seams which unite the parts, but such turning of the longand narrow tubular structure is troublesome to per- 40 form and commonlyresults in so stretching or wrinkling the thin and delicate materials,or in cracking the surface of patent or enameled leathers, that theiroriginal appearance can never be restored. 4 In accordance with thepresent invention, both of the foregoing difiiculties are overcome, andthe improved belt made in accordance with the novel process hereindisclosed is devoid of any visible seam at the exposed surface of thefront 5 ply; the front ply remains unwrinkled, un-

stetched, or otherwise defaced or injured; and the operations involvedare simplified so that they may be carried out rapidly and easily andwithout the employment ofspecial tools or implements except the usualsewing mechanism.

In the accompanying drawing in which I have illustrated one desirableembodiment of my invention by way of example,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation, partly broken away, illustrating acompleted belt embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary elevation, partly in perspective, illustratingthe outer ply ready for association with the lining;

Fig. 3 is a composite view showing in elevation, and partly inperspective, portions of the two lining members;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary elevation illustrating the step of securing oneof the lining members to the front ply; 7

Fig. 5 is a section, to larger scale, substantially on the line 5-5 ofFig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary elevation illustrating the subsequent step ofsecuring the second lining member to the front ply; 7

Fig. 7 is a section, to larger scale, substantially on the line 7- -7 ofFig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a section illustrating the arrangement of the parts at thecompletion of the next step of the process of manufacture; 80

Fig. 9 is a similar section,-showing the parts in convenient positionfor uniting the adjacent edges of the lining members;

Fig. 10 is a section showing the parts as they appear after the inneredges of the lining members have been united;

Fig. 11 is a section showing the arrangement of the parts after thelining seam has been pressed; and

Fig. 12 is a fragmentaryelevation showing the appearance of the inner orrear side of the completed belt.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral 1 indicates a length of materialsuitable for forming the face or front ply of the belt. This materialmay be of any desired character, but for convenience in descriptionmaybe-referred to as thin, pliable and finely finished leather havingthe outer or finished surface 2 and the inner or unfinished surface 3.This length of material is of dimensions appropriate to the formation ofthe desired belt, and after this length of material has been prepared,the next subsequent step consists preferably in skiving or beveling itslongitudinal edges as illustrated at 4 and 5 so as to make these edgesthin and flexible and to define a line of fold for a purpose hereinafterdescribed.

In addition to this forward ply I provide a pair of lining members 6 and6*, respectively (Fig. 3), which may be of any desired material asalready suggested, either similar to that of the front ply orotherwise,usually of textile fabric. While both sides of this fabric maybe alike, it may frequently happen, as in the case of satins, forexample, that one side is a finished and the other an unfinished side,and in the drawing the finished side of the lining member 6 is indicatedat 7 and the unfinished side at 8. Likewise the finished side of themember 6 is indicated at 9 and the unfinished side at 10. These liningmembers are of a length substantially equal to that of the front ply andare of an aggregate width somewhat greater than the width of the frontply.

Having prepared the members 1, 6 and 6 the next step is to attach one ofthe lining members to the front ply. In performing this step, thefinished surface 2 of the front ply and the finished surface 7 of thelining member 6, for example, are placed face to face, with alongitudinal edge of each in substantial registry with an edge of theother, as illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, and their registering edges areunited, preferably by means of a seam 11 comprising stitches which passthrough the entire thickness of both members. The next step is to securethe other lining member, for example, the member 6 to the front ply, andfor this purpose the finished surface 9 of the lining member 6 is placedin contact with the finished surface 2 of the front ply and with theedges of the parts in registry, and these edges are then united by aseam 12 similar to the seam 11. The seams 11 and 12 may readily be madeon an ordinary sewing machine.

The next step is to turn the parts so that they occupy relativepositions substantially as shown in Fig. 8. In so doing the front ply 1is bent or folded along its skived edges to provide the longitudinalfold lines 13 and 14, respectively, while at the same time the skivedmargins form what may be termed longitudinal flaps 16 and 17 which liein substantially parallel relation to the inner or rear surface of thefront ply 1. Likewise, fold lines 15 and 16 are formed in the liningmembers 6 and 6 respectively, such fold lines preferably being nearer tothe seams 11 and 12 than are the fold lines 13 and 14. This folding ofthe lining members 6 and 6 produces the longitudinal flaps 18 and 19,respectively, it being noted that by thus turning the parts, the seams11 and 12 become blind or concealed seams.

Referring to Figs. '7 and 8, it will be noted that the widths of thelining members '6 and 6 are such that their free or unattached edgessubstantially overlap, thus providing material for use in forming auniting seam.

The next step in the operation comprises the turning in or doubling ofthe free edges of the lining members 6 and 6 to conceal the raw edges,thus forming the longitudinal flaps 20 and 21 so that each free edgeportion becomes of two-ply construction. The flaps20 and 21 are now laidin contact, as illustrated in Fig. 9, forming a four-ply structure 23,and these plies are united by a sewed seam 22 comprising stitches whichpass through all four plies. This seam v I may readily be formed bymeans of an ordinary sewing machine, for example, byarranging the partsas shown in Fig. 9. After this seam has been formed, the four-plystructure 23 is folded along its union with one of the lining members,

for example, the member 6, so as to bring the.

parts into the position illustrated in Figs. 11 and 12, and the liningmay now be subjected to pressure and heat, if desired, so as to set theparts. This completes the operation of uniting the lining to the frontply, and the belt may now be finished in any desired way as, forexample, by

shaping and stitching one end as illustrated at 24 and by setting in theeyelets 25 and attaching a buckle or clasp 26.

In the finished belt the front ply, as illustrated in Fig. l, isentirely free of any exposed stitches or other attaching members bywhich it is united to the lining, except possibly at the end 24 wheresuch stitches may be used in finishing the extremity of the belt. Theupper and lower edges 6 and 6 are of substantially equal width, Icontemplate making them of unequal length so that the welt structure 23may be disposed nearer one edge of the completed belt than the other. Itmay also be noted that by reason of this mode of procedure aninterliner, for example, a length of hair cloth or other suitablestiffener or'pad ding, may easily be interposed between the front ply 1and the lining without substantial change in the mode "of procedure andwithout making it more difficult or interfering with the steps of theprocess as above outlined.

While I have indicated a specific order of steps, I wish it to beunderstood that such order of steps may be varied under certaincircumstances and that variations from the suggested materials and thespecified means of attaching the several elements to each other may bemade without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim: I

1. A belt comprising a front ply and a lining, the lining including twoindependent parts each respectively united, along one edge, by a sewedseam to one edge of the front ply, the opposite edges of said liningparts being united by a sewed seam, the seams which unite the edges ofthe front ply to the respective lining parts being invisible from theexposed face of the front ply.

2. A belt comprising a front ply having its longitudinal margins foldeddown into substantially parallel relation to its rear surface, a pair ofliner members each united by a blind seam to one respectively of thefolded margins of the front ply, and a seam uniting the other edges ofsaid lining members.

3. A belt comprising a front ply of soft and flexible material, thelongitudinal margins of said ply being beveled to provide thin edges,said margins being folded down into substantially parallel relation tothe rear surface of the front ply, a pair of liner members, each linermember having its longitudinal margins folded over against that facewhich is concealed in the completed belt, means uniting each foldedmargin of the front ply to one folded margin of one of the liningmembers, respectively, and a sewed seam comprising, stitches uniting theother folded margins of the lining members to each other, the stitchesof'said latter seam being invisible from the front of the belt.

4. A belt comprising a front ply of soft and flexible material, said plybeing folded at its margins to provide longitudinal flaps at its rearside, a pair of liner members each folded at one margin to provide alongitudinal flap at that side of the lining member which is concealedin the completed belt, means uniting the flaps at the margins of thefront ply to the flaps of the respective lining members, said unitingmeans being invisible from the outer or inner side of the completedbelt, the other margins of the lining members also being folded toprovide flaps, said latter flaps being disposed in face to face contact,a seam comprising stitches passing through said latter flaps and throughthe marginal portions of the liner members of which the flaps formparts, respectively, said latter marginal parts of the liner memberswith their flaps all being disposed in planes substantially parallel tothe plane of the front ply.

5. That method of making apparel belts which comprises as stepspreparing a length of material suitable for a front ply, preparing apair of liner members each of a length substantially corresponding tothat of the front ply and of an aggregate Width exceeding the width ofthe front ply, sewing each of the liner members to one of thelongitudinal margins of the front ply, respectively, with the finishedfaces of the front ply and the liner members, which are to be exposed inthe completed belt, in contact with each other, reversing the parts soas to expose the finished surfaces of the front ply and lining membersand forming distinct fold lines along the united margins of the frontply and lining members, respectively, turning in the raw edges of thefree marginal portions of the lining members, and uniting said marginsby stitches which do not penetrate the front ply.

6. That method of making apparel belts which comprises as stepspreparing a length of material suitable for a front ply, skiving thelongitudinal edges of said length of material at the rear surfacethereof to provide beveled edges, preparing a pair of liner members eachof a length substantially corresponding to the length of the front plyand of an aggregate width exceeding the width of said front ply,securing each of the liner members by a sewed seam to one of thelongitudinal skived margins of the front ply, respectively, with thefinished faces of the front ply and of the liner members, which are tobe exposed in the completed belt, in contact with each other, reversingthe parts so as to expose the finished faces of the front ply and liningmembers, and forming distinct fold lines adjacent to the united marginsof the front ply and. lining members, respectively, the fold lines inthe front ply being spaced farther from the sewed seams than are thefold lines in the corresponding lining members, doubling the raw edgesof the free margins of the lining members to form two plies, placing thedoubled two-ply margins of said liner members in contact, uniting thefour plies thus provided by a sewed seam, and turning the united pliesof lining material along said seam to cause the four-fold structure tolie substantially parallel to the finished exposed face of one of theliner members.

ROBERT MULLER.

